A Duelist's Pain
by Bleeding Pyro Alchemist
Summary: Jaden is to duel a new student on request. How good a duelist is this guy, and what's up with 'Jaden's' deck? OneShot Warning: Mild Violence Non Graphic though and some language. Read at your own risk.


**A Duelist's Pain**

Jaden Yuki sighed, relaying the events that occurred about an hour or so ago. Professor Banner and the Chancellor had approached him with the news of a new student

(Flashback)

Jaden was in his dorm, practicing dueling with Syrus and explaining certain card effects to Chumley. They fell silent, however, when there was a knock (more like three) on the door. The Slifer Trio looked at each other as the knocking continued. Jaden uncrossed his legs and stood up, going to answer the door because he figured it was Chazz or Bastion or Alexis maybe. It was the Chancellor and Professor Banner, looking slightly amused.

"You see Chancellor? I told you they'd be here if they were not in my class," Banner said, smiling and stroking his cat Pharaoh.

The three boys looked at each other sheepishly. It was true; they should be in class now, not playing hooky and comparing cards.

The two men smiled at each other knowingly and the Chancellor said kindly, "Well, Jaden, you have a chance to redeem yourself. All you have to do is agree to a duel."

(End Flashback)

Jaden re-read over the letter the Chancellor had given him.

_To Whom It May Concern:_

_My name is Lance, and according to my professor, Shaun White, I am to be a transfer student from our respected academy to yours._

_I am aware of the rules, how a new student must start from the bottom and work up, but I am also aware that a new student may make a duel request. I wish to duel the top student in my level. I set the rules. I set the stakes, and the stakes are these: _

_If my opponent wins, (s) he may pick a fitting reward (within reason of course) and I accept my position._

_If I win, I wish to be promoted to the next level and I pick a suitable punishment (within reason of course)._

_They do not need their deck. _

_I expect nothing less than the best. - Lance_

The note had been writing in a sharp, straight print with a slight slant and seemed so stiff and formal. If Jaden weren't positive it was hand written, he could have said it had been printed off a computer. Strangest of all, there was no last name. Only Lance. 'Maybe the guy doesn't want anyone to know and make fun of it.' Jaden thought to himself.

Actually, the strangest thing was that he wouldn't need his deck. Perhaps this guy Lance had one prepared for him. In that case, the guy would know every single card in the deck. Can you say, 'Unfair advantage'?

Jaden could just hear the spirit of his good buddy Winged Kuribo purring consolations and encouragement.

"Yeah, I know buddy, but it's still gonna be one helluva duel." Jaden replied as Syrus entered the room.

"Hey J. You ready for the big duel?" The younger (at least I think he's younger 0.0) boy asked.

"Sure Sy," Jaden replied grinning, "I'm pumped!"

"That's good, because I'm nervous enough for the both of us!"

"Hey man, don't worry. It'll be no sweat!"

"I hope so." Syrus said, still slightly worried.

Jaden just smiled and stood up. "Well, I'd better get going. Professor Banner said the guy would be there in an hour or two, and it's been three and a half!" He laughed. Syrus still didn't look to sure, but followed his friend anyways.

They reached the Slifer duel ring to an annoyed and impatient buzzing, which immediately transformed into cheering when Jaden entered, causing him to laugh.

"Hey, I'm more popular than I thought!" This brought more cheers. So did the waving Jaden started, calling out to his friends and class mates.

Jaden finally turned to his opponent and a small gasp escaped him. Unless he was mistaken, it was a girl! Of course! Jaden mentally kicked himself. Why take it for granted that the new guy was a guy just because the letter had been so formal and had been signed 'Lance'. It was probably a nickname or something. After all, it made sense, in a twisted way. Females always did have-

He was dragged out of these thoughts by a cool, light voice that was pleasing to the ear, yet still capable of sending shivers up one's spine.

"You decided to show after all. Come here."

Something about that voice compelled him to obey and approach the girl. Once he was closer, he could see her in better detail.

'Lance' was wearing a sleeveless gray turtleneck shirt which revealed her midriff and barbell pierced naval, a pair of tight black jeans that swished around her ankles. A fine silver chain was attached to two of the belt loops. A pair of black converses flamed with red and blue were on her feet. Her hair was a red, not a usual strawberry blonde red, but a dark red with a hint of brown. It was pulled back in a French braid with a silver ribbon woven in. Her most striking feature was not her pale skin, nor her height. It was her pair of gorgeous pale slivery green eyes. They scared the shit out of Jaden. They were beautiful, yet emotionless. Only the reflection from the lighting could be seen in those eyes.

The room was silent as Lance handed Jaden a deck. Then, she spoke.

"This deck has special meaning to me. Bend the corner of just ONE card, and you will find yourself wishing you were only being tortured."

"Chill man," Jaden said, slightly scared, but a bit amused at the fact she thought he would abuse a card, let alone one that wasn't his. "I'll take good care of your deck." He thought he saw a flicker in her eyes, but she continued.

"Rules: We will each have eight cards in our hand in the beginning, and at our Draw Phase we will draw until we have eight cards. Once a monster is summoned to the field, it is not allowed to attack until its next turn. Special summons, excluding fusion, are not required. Any questions?"

"Sweet!" Jaden said. "Nope, no questions." He added, grinning.

"Now we will shuffle each other's decks." Lance said, handing Jaden hers and taking back the one she had given Jaden. Once again, he thought he saw that flicker, but it was gone almost as soon as it came. The decks were shuffled properly and returned to their respected owners.

Lance took her spot on the duel arena, so Jaden took it as a cue to do the same. They started up their duel disks and the life points were set. The duel had begun.

"Ladies first," Jaden smirked.

"Oh, what a gentleman you are." Came the cold, sarcastic reply, and they both drew their cards. As Lance looked over her cards, Jaden took a chance to do the same. 'Firegrass', 'Dragon Manipulator', 'Cat of Ill Omen', 'Hinotama Soul', 'Hane-Hane', 'Monster Egg'… Oooh, 'Fiend Skull Dragon'! Aw, but it was a fusion monster and no 'Polymerization'. But then again, there was 'Swordstalker', and without special summons, Jaden could form a plan when-

"I play 'The Eye of Truth'! In case you didn't know, as long as this is on the field, you must show me your hand. Fortunately for you, if you have a spell card in your hand, you get one thousand life points for each one you have."

Jaden looked at his hand and groaned inwardly. No spell cards. He brought his hand to Lance for her to see. She compared it with her own and an evil grin flicked across her features as she started to formulate a plan before she handed it back.

"Such a pity"

(Lances POV)

'Let's see… 'Eye of Truth' and 'Judgeman'. Pretty good. 'Celtic Guardian'. Still good. 'King Tiger Wanghu'. Not as good as 'Judgeman', but better than 'Celtic Guardian'. 'Lord of Dragons', good if I had a Dragon type monster. 'Machine King' ooh… This is really good compared to the others, but what's this? 'Pain Splitter' and 'One Last Wish'… A plan I can form. He will most likely use 'SwordStalker' which has two hundred more life points than my dear Pain…' Here she paused for a quick calculation, 'Excellent' (AN: Right now, her brain is whizzing a mile a minute, two or three actually, which is why Jaden isn't yelling at her to get on with it. Also, because it's his turn.)

(Back to Jaden)

"All right! For now, I'll just play SwordStalker. Back to you Lance, show me what you've got!" Jaden crowed.

Bad decision.

"If you insist," Lance said silkily, "I'll play my number one girl Pain Splitter and lay this card face down as well. Your turn."

"What?" Jaden asked. "What's that? And why would you play a weaker monster?"

The slim form of a pale, read-headed woman appeared on the field. Jaden could see why Lance liked her, they'd be identical if Lance wore more leather or Pain wore more cotton/polyester and denim. The she-beast wielded a large, formidable looking battle-ax, and boasted 1800 attack points; two hundred less than his Stalker.

"Your funeral." Jaden said, shrugging.

"I have a bad feeling about this J." Jaden picked out Syrus' voice amongst the crowd's cheers.

"Hey man, don't sweat! It'll be fine!" He didn't notice Lance smirking.

"SwordStalker, attack!"

"Stop! You've activated my monster's special ability and the first part of your annihilation!"

Jaden noticed that Stalker was holding Pain's battle-ax and she was clutching his blade. "What?"

"Pain Splitter's special ability: Part one: Causes opponent's monster to attack with her weapon."

"This is not good!" Jaden said as he watched his monster drive the ax into the beautiful female creature's head. Swordstalker was destroyed as the woman tossed her head back and let out a heart-wrenching wail. The monster's essence (or at least that's what Jaden thought it was) separated into two columns and they consumed Jaden, drawing out cries from the audience. When the swirling fog finally dissipated, the field was cleared of monsters, they both had lost life points, but Jaden's were down by 3600! The crowd gasped,

Before Jaden could ask, Lance flipped her face-down card, which turned out to be a-

"You've also activated my trap card, 'One Last Wish'! The difference between the attack points of our monsters are, like Pain's attack points, doubled, and then subtracted from your life points!"

It took Jaden a minute to figure out how many life points he'd loose, but by then it was too late. "You CAN'T!" Jaden shouted.

"Watch me." A tarnished-looking silver lamp with the number one carved into the side appeared on the field. A cloaked figure holding a wicked scythe floated out of the lamp and attacked Jaden (not really hurting him though). Said boy fell to his knees. The last time he had lost so fast was when he had first started dueling. The crowd didn't even realize what had happened until Lance was standing by Jaden, holding out her hand for her deck back.

Jaden stared at her hand blankly before snapping to his senses and removing the deck from his duel disk.

"I suppose you deserve an 'A' after a duel such as that. However, because you lost. I suppose a 'B minus' will suffice."

Jaden had to think for a moment before remembering _'I choose_ _a fitting punishment'._ "Uh, if you say so." J. said, scratching his head.

"See ya 'round" Lance said before walking out of the room, tucking the deck back in a special case designed for holding decks.

(Few Hours Later)

By now Jaden had figured out how he had lost, but only because he had help from Bastion and Alexis. Now, all he had to do was figure out why she requested to duel him, if she was so confident about winning. He was planning on visiting his shady spot on the hill to sort out his thoughts, but he was surprised to see a certain red-head all ready there.

"What are you doin' here?" Jaden asked her.

Lance looked around, a bit startled before looking back over the grounds. "Sittin' I guess."

Jaden was surprised to here her voice betray any hint of emotion, especially sad, yet thoughtful.

"Mind tellin' me what's on your mind?" He asked, sitting beside her.

"This deck," Lance replied, holding up the deck she had lent J.

"Oh yeah," Jaden said smiling slightly. "That was a sweet duel!"

"It's my brother's deck," Lance said, with a hint of anger in her voice.

"Oh." Was all Jaden could think to say. He wasn't smiling any more.

"He hasn't been seen since hell knows how long, and he was the only one who could beat me." She said looking at the sky. "I've been transferring from school to school trying to find him after hearing he was seen in the area."

"I'm sorry," Jaden said then he asked, "Why do you want to find him?"

"That bitch did something I can't ever forgive. I am going to find him and make him pay," Lance whispered venomously, sending shivers down Jaden's spine.

"Er, well, it shouldn't be to hard to find someone with looks as good as yours." Jaden said then realizing what he had said, "Wait! That didn't come out right."

"It's all right, I know what you mean. And you'd be surprised how many people match his description. He doesn't exactly look like me." She said softly, ruffling Jaden's hair. "I'll leave you to do your thinking," She left him alone on the hill. The teens hadn't noticed the pair of dark grey eyes watching them from the hedges. An inaudible voice whispered, "I said I was sorry Lane." As the eyes watched the girl leave.

-Fin-

Okay, that's my first story, so don't review to harshly

-That is if they review at all

Shut it Onyx. Anyways, what do you think?

-I think it sucked.

I didn't ask you! Hey, if I get at least five positive reviews (or five constructive criticisms) I might make a sequal.

-Don't get your hopes up kid.

-Shut it! I'm also working on a Harry Potter story, so if I promise a sequal, it might not come for a while. Remember, The review option is your best friend.

Bleeding Pyro Alchemist

-And Onyx

And Onyx out. TTFN


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